Packaging machinery



March 30, 1948. J. A. KAY

PACKAGING MACHINERY Filed July 8, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

INVENTORZ James flriymf r A ORNEYS March 30, 1948. J. A. KAY

PACKAGING MACHINERY Filed July 8, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 30, 1948 PATENT OFFIBE 2,438,809 PACKAGING MACHINERY James Arthur Kay,

Gainsborough, England, as-

signor to Rose Brothers (Gainsborough) Limited, Gainsborough, England, a British company Application July 8, 1944, Serial No. 544,049 In Great Britain March 29, 1943 8 Claims.

This invention relates to packaging apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for closing and sealing containers of fibreboard, cardboard, or like material, the apparatus being of the type described in United States Patent No. 2,370,583 (to which reference may be made for any details of the apparatus not apparent from this description) in which containers of the above kind are fed through a flap-gluing device in which provision is made for leaving the portions of the outside flaps which,.in the finished container, extend over the gap between the inside flaps free of glue so as to prevent those portions from being stuck to the contents of the container.

When dealing with containers of the type in which the outside flaps overlap, however, a better seal is obtained by providing the overlapping portion of the outer or the outside flaps with a continuous line of glue. It is with the provision of such a continuous line of glue that the invention is concerned.

According to the invention, therefore; there is provided an apparatus of the above type wherein an auxiliary glue-applying roller is arranged to apply a continuous line of glue to that portion of the outer or the outside flaps which in any container overlaps the inner of the outside flaps, said glue-applying roller being arranged tor ad- Justment in synchronism with the adjustment of the apparatus for the accommodation of containers of different dimensions.

The auxiliary glue-applying roller may be so disposed that during the passage through the machine of a container in which the outside flaps are arranged to abut along the centre line of the container the edge of the outer oi the outside flaps passes just clear or the adjacent edge or the auxiliary glue-applying roller and thus does not pass in contact with the gluing surface. With the glue-applying roller so disposed, it will be seen that any container having longer outside flaps than that mentioned above, 1. e., overlapping outside flaps, will pass the auxiliary glueapplying roller with the outer or its outside flaps in contact with the gluing surfaces over a portion which constitutes in the finished container part of the overlapping portion. The width of the auxiliary glue-applying roller is sufllcient to accommodate flaps varying in width from that necessary for the flaps to abut as mentioned above to that necessary for the flaps to overlap by an amount equal to the full width or the container, i. e.. each flap is equal to the width or the container.

The invention is particularly useful when used in conjunction with the apparatus described in my copending United States application Serial No. 544,050, iiled July 8, 1944, which has been issued as Patent No. 2,437,198, dated March 2, 1948, and by way of example, the invention will now be described in greater detail, as applied to such an apparatus, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation of part of a machine 1 for closing and sealing containers 0! fibreboard or like material,

Figure 2 is a plan view of a portion oi the apparatus shown in Figure 1, showing the upper gluing mechanisms, and

Figure 3 is aplan view similar to Figure '2,

showing the lower gluing mechanisms.

The machine is of the same general type as that described in United States Patent application No. 544,050, mentioned above, reference being made 2 to that specification for further details of the construction and operation oithe machine as a whole.

Referring to Figure 1, containers II are fed through the apparatus by means oi? pusher bars 2 i2 carried by a pair of driven chains l3. Prior to reaching the position shown in Figure 1, the containers ill have passed through folding devices for folding inwardly the inside flaps or the containers and for folding outwardly the outside flaps so that they lie in horizontal planes. After passing auxiliary gluing devices, the subject of the. present inventio generally indicated by reference numerals i4 and i8 and fully described below, the containers reach the main upper and 5 lower gluing devices, generally indicated by reference numerals 22 and 23, which apply a film of glue to the inside surfaces of the outside flaps of the containers, and during their further passage through the machine their outside flaps are ploughed over into closed position.

The gluing devices 22 and 23 are arranged in pairs, one of each pair on each side or the machine, and the pairs are substantially identical in construction.

The upper gluing devices 22 are each carried by a bracket 26 slidably'mounted on a pair of shafts 21 carried by a pairof brackets 28-, and their lateral adjustment is brought about by means or a rotatable screwed shaft 29 mounted in the brackets 28 and engaging the bracket 26, the screwed shaft 29 being driven by chain and sprocket gearing 3i from a similar screwed shaft 32 which, in turn, is driven through suitable gearing from a driving motor (not shown). The

brackets 28 are slidably mounted on a pair 01 I of rotation of the screwed shaft that will be apparent from later description.

2,438,809 I V. l 1,

pillars 34 and are vertically adjustable by means of screws 36 which gearing from a driving motor (not shown).

The lower gluing devices 23 are arranged for lateral adjustment in a similar manner to the gluing devices 22, the gluing devices generally being slidably mounted on a guiding shaft I02 secured to the main framework ll of the machine, the lateral movement being brought about by a screwed shaft I03 driven, like the screwed shafts 23 and 32, through suitable gearing from the same motor (not sh'own), the screwed shaft I03 engaging frames I of the gluing devices.

The operation of the gluing devices 22 and 23 is controll d by a feeler I43 and a detector I43 under the influence of the containers as fully described in United States Patent application No. 544,050 mentioned above.

The auxiliary gluing devices I4 and I8 will now be described.

The upper gluing device It comprises a pair of frames l supported on a guiding shaft 202 provided with bearings one in the bracket 23 and another in a stationary frame 203 extending along the central portion of the machine and supported on the guiding shafts 21 and a pair of similar shafts 204. The frames 21" are arranged for screw engagement with a screwed shaft 203 rotatably mounted in bearings one in the bracket 28 and the other in the central frame 203. The gluing device is similar in general construction to the gluing device 22, 201 being fed by a transfer roller 208 from a glue roller 209 rotatably mounted in a glue bath 2| I. The glue-applying roller 20! is driven by gearing from the glue roller 203 which, in turn, is driven by chain and sprocket gearing 2l2 from a shaft 6i which also serves to drive the gluing device 22. The lateral adjustment of the gluing device It is brought-about by means of the screwed shaft 206 which is driven by chain and sprocket gearing 2i 3 from the screwed shaft 32 serving to drive other laterally adjustable parts of the machine. The screwed shaft 206 is driven at twice the rate 32 for a purpose The lower gluing device I6 is similar in construction to the gluing device I, being provided with a pair of frames 2 I supported on a guiding shaft 2| 6 similar to the shaft 202 and arranged for engagement with arotatable screwed shaft 2|! similar to the screwed shaft 206, the screwed shaft 2i! being driven by chain and sprocket gearing 2l3 from the screwed shaft I03 driving the gluing device 23. As with the screwed shaft 206, the screwed shaft 2|! is driven at twice the rate of rotation of the glue-applying roller 2l3 of the gluing device I is directly mounted in the glue bath 22f and is driven by gearing from a rotatable shaft 222 which, in turn, is driven by chain and sprocket gearing 223 from the shaft 12 which also serves to drive the gluing device 23.

The gluing devices l4 and I6 are arranged on one side only of the machine and their glue-applying rollers 20! and H3 are arranged to remain continuously in glue-applying position and are set so that, for a given container of the kind in which the outside flaps are arranged to abut along the centre lineof the container. the adjacent edges of the glue-applying rollers 20! and 2l9 are just clear of the-adjacentedges of the outside flaps of the container. This condition is maintained (with containers of the same kind) by causing the gluing devices and It to be are driven through suitable the glue-applying roller screwed shaft I03. The

disposed with its adjacent adjusted at twice by the screwed shaft 32, as described above. In this manner, the-glue-applying roller is always disposed just clear of theappropriate flap in all cases in which the flaps abut, while at the same time any container with overlapping flaps passing through the apparatus is provided with a continuous line of glue on the outer of its overlapping flaps.

By the use of the containers having various outside flap lengths may be passed through the apparatus in succession without the necessity for making any ad-'- justment in thegluing'apparatus as regards the portion of the flap on. which a continuous line of glue is required,

I claim:

1. Packaging apparatus of the type described, comprising means for feeding a succession of containers through the apparatus, main'glue-applying rollers for applying glue to the whole or part of the inside surface of the outside flaps of said containers, means for adjusting the apparatus for the accommodation of containers of different dimensions, said adjusting means including means for simultaneously adjusting, said main glue-applying rollers, an auxiliary glue-applying roller for applying a continuous line of glue to that portion of the outer of the outside flaps which in any container overlaps the inner of the outside 41am, and means operating in synchronism with said adjusting means for adjusting said auxiliary glue-applying roller simultaneously with the adjustment of said main glue-applying rollers to such a position relatively to the width of any container that it applies glue only to certain portions of the outer of the outside flaps.

2. Packaging apparatus of the type described, comprising means for feeding a succession of containers through the apparatus, main glue-applying rollers for applying glue to the whole or part of the inside surface of the outside flaps of said containers, means for adjusting the apparatus for the acccommodation of containers of different dimensions, said adjusting means including means for simultaneously adjusting said main glue-applying rollers, an auxiliary glue-applying roller for applying a continuous line of glue to that portion of the outer of the outside flaps which in any container overlaps the inner of the outside flaps, said auxiliary glue-applying roller being edge at a distance from the centre line of the container path equal to slightly more than the width of the container for the time being passing through the apparatus, and means operating in synchronism with said adjusting means for adjusting said auxiliary glue-applying roller simultaneously with the adjustment of said main apparatus for a given width of container that said distance remains constant.

3.Packaging apparatus comprising means for feeding a succession of containers through the apparatus, main glue-applying rollers for applying glue to the whole or part of the inside surface of the outside flaps of said containers, means for adjusting the apparatus for the accommodation of containers of different dimensions, said adjusting means including means for simultaneously adjusting said main glue-applying rollers, a pair of auxiliary glue-applying rollers for applying continuous lines of glue to those portions of the outer of the outside the rate of adjustment of the laterally adjustable parts of the machine driven present invention, therefore, 7

glue-applying rollers at such a; rate relatively to the adjustment-of the of the type described,

. 6 flaps at the upper and lower ends or the containers respectively which in any container over- REFERENCES CITED lap the inner of the outside flaps, and means opv erating insynchronism with said adjusting means The following references are of record in the for adjusting said auxiliary glue-a l mners 5 file of this patent:

simultaneously with the adjustment of said giueapplying rollers to such positions relatively to the UNITED ATES PATENTS width of any container that they apply glue only Number Name Date to said portions 01 the outer or the outside flaps.

I JAMES ARTHUR KAY. 10 2,095,258 Kimball et ai Oct. 12, 1937 

